"DUF" 2003 Obituary

DUFF o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-10-22 published
ARDIEL,
RuthWinnifred (née
FRANCIS) 89 years.
Died peacefully at Windsor Regional Hospital-Western Campus on
Tuesday,October 21, 2003. Dearest wife of the late J.R.
ARDIEL
(1973.) Beloved mother of Joan
DUFF,
KarenMEYERS and Susan and
David RUCH.
Dearest sister of June and Fred
ROEMMELE. Loving
grandmother of Melissa
MEYERS and Jim
DONOHUE,
JayMEYERS and
Tina ROBBINS, Allison
RUCH and Ryan
SMITH, Dave
RUCH and Anne
Marie PETTINATO,
JulieSANDO, and John
PECARARO, Jackie and Frank
HAMILTON,
Michelle and Joe
GRECO and Natalie
DUFF. Great grandmother
of Max and Miranda
PECARARO,
Scott and Mathew
HAMILTON and Kaity
and Nicholas
GRECO. Dear Aunt to her special nieces, nephews,
great nieces and nephews. Remembered by several cousins in London
and Toronto. Born on a homestead in Marengo, Saskatchewan to
the late Anne and Alfred
FRANCIS; pre-deceased by brothers Lloyd
(1912), Bruce (Royal Canadian Air Force, 1943) and her sister
Dorothy HENDERSON (1964.) Ruth was a long-standing member of
Beach Grove Golf and Country Club, Windsor and Tamarac Golf and
Country Club, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Visiting in the Walter
D. Kelly Funeral Home and Cremation Centre, 1969 Wyandotte St.
East, Windsor, Ontario on Thursday 3-5 and 7-9 p.m. The complete
funeral service will be held in the chapel on Friday, October
24, 2003 at 11: 00 a.m. Reverend William
GALLAGHER officiating. Cremation
with interment later in Greenlawn Memorial Cemetery. In kindness
memorial tributes to the charity of you choice, Heart and Stroke
Foundation or the Canadian Cancer Society would be appreciated.

DUFFIELD o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-03-05 published
ALLAN,
Stewart
(Stew)
RaeBorn in 1926 in Eramosa Township, brother of Helen
DUFFIELD,
Stew had a great life. He married Reta
RICHMOND of Guelph and
headed to Markham to start a career and a family. Stew spent
35 years at the Massey Ferguson Engineering Test Track. A long
time member of the Markham Unionville Lions, Stew was the recipient
of the Melvin Jones Fellow Award. The ''Monday Nighters'' card
games were a tradition that span four decades and served as a
model of camaraderie. When Stew retired from Massey, he started
his second career as an entrepreneur of surplus equipment. Stew's
pride and joy was his family. Always a big supporter and builder
of their confidence with just the right words, Rae, Katharine
(Kate), Gregg and Bruce, were the special ones in his life. With
Sarah, the first grandchild, Stew became known as Pa, a name
and role he cherished with the rest of the grandchildren (Eric,
Ann-Marie, Ian, Mark and Bryce) and with Ruth, Andy, Wendy, and
Lori. Stew the unique person -- always with a positive attitude.
He touched and inspired many people. Stew would want to say Thanks
to all the people that made his life so special and rewarding.
Visitation will be at the Dixon-Garland Funeral Home, 166 Main
Street, North (Hwy. 48) Markham on Wednesday 2-4 and 7-9 p.m.
The service will be Thursday at 1: 30 p.m. at St. Andrews Presbyterian
Church, 143 Main Street, North, Markham. In lieu of flowers,
donations may be made to the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation
or the Cancer Society.

DUFFY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-10 published
The castle lights are growing dim
Canadian television icon made his mark as star of The Hilarious
House of Frightenstein
By John McKAY Canadian Press Friday, January 10, 2003, Page R11
Billy VAN, the diminutive, manic comic actor who starred in Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation-Television's Nightcap in the 1960s and
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein in the seventies, died Wednesday.
He was 68.
Mr. VAN, who had been battling cancer for about a year and had
a triple heart bypass in 1998, died at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital,
said his former wife, Claudia
CONVERSE.
While a familiar fixture on Canadian television for decades,
he also worked in the United States on variety shows such as
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ray Stevens Show and The Bobby
Vinton Show.
Mr. VAN even gained fame for the Colt .45 beer commercials he
made for 15 years and for which he won a Clio Award.
But he invariably returned to Toronto in shows like The Party
Game, Bizarre with John Byner, The Hudson Brothers Razzle DAzzle
Show and Bits and Bytes.
His wife, Susan, said that while he had opportunities in the
U.S., Mr. VAN had no regrets about staying in Canada.
"He was quite happy when he came back," she said. "He had the
taste of the life down there and [said] 'Okay, that's fine, I'd
rather be at home.' "
Ms. CONVERSE agreed that Mr.
VAN had been happy with his career
and had worked non-stop until his heart bypass.
"I don't know of many Canadians that stay in Canada who get their
full recognition," she said. "When he went to the States, definitely.
But there isn't a star system in Canada so it's kind of difficult."
Mr. VAN -- then Billy
VANEVERA -- went into show business at
the age of 12 and back in the 1950s, he and his four musically
inclined brothers formed a singing group that toured Canada and
Europe. Most also went on to adult careers in show business.
After his heart surgery, Mr.
VAN was semi-retired but continued
to do voiceover work for commercials and animated programs. His
last major on-screen role was as Les the trainer in the television
hockey movie Net Worth in 1995.
Mr. VAN and long-time colleagues Dave
BROADFOOT and Jack
DUFFY
made appearances in recent years to support the fledgling Canadian
Comedy Awards.
"I'm all for that enthusiasm," Mr.
VAN said about the awards
launch in 2000.
"Billy was one of my closest Friends," said Mr.
DUFFY, who added
that he called Mr.
VAN several times a week after he became ill.
"We were sort of buddies under the skin. We got to know each
other really well at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and then
we worked on Party Game together for a number of years. He was
a close friend and I will miss him very much."
Mr. DUFFY said a lot of doors opened for Mr.
VAN when he did
The Sonny and Cher Show,but he was happy to come home to his native
Toronto, where he was born in 1934.
"He came back and we were glad to have him back."
Entertainer Dinah
CHRISTIE, with whom Mr.
VAN worked on The Party
Game for a decade, called him a brave and glorious person.
"He would take on anything and was . . . a totally gracious guy,"
she said. "I'm just going to miss him like we all are going to
miss him. He soldiered through this bloody cancer thing so wonderfully.
I knew he was just trying to get through Christmas."
Ms. CHRISTIE said Mr.
VAN had some hideous experiences in the
U.S. He had seen a man shot to death next to him in a New York
hotel, and had his Los Angeles home broken into twice.
"He never felt safe there. And he was such a Canadian that he
always felt safe here."
Mr. VAN's picture is on the Canadian Comedy Wall of Fame at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast Centre in Toronto,
along with those of Al
WAXMAN,
Wayne and Shuster and Don
HARRON.
TheHilariousHouse of Frightenstein starred Vincent
PRICE, with
Mr. VAN as host and a variety of characters, including The Count,
a vampire who preferred pizza to blood and who wore tennis shoes
as well as a cape. The hour-long episodes were taped at Hamilton's
CHCH-Television and are still seen in syndication around the
world.
Nightcap was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation satirical show
that predated Saturday Night Live by a dozen years. Its cast
included Al
HAMEL and Guido
BASSO and his orchestra.
Mr. VAN leaves his wife, Susan, and two daughters from previous
marriages, Tracy and Robyn.
A private funeral will be held in Toronto on Monday.
Billy VAN, actor and entertainer; born in Toronto in 1934; died
in Toronto on January 8, 2003.